The White House and Congress are in a standoff over immigration funding. Israel prepares for a possible ground offensive in Gaza. And Bell Labs sets the Internet on fire with a new speed record.

It's Friday and here are the 5 things to know for your New Day

1. IMMIGRATION CRISIS

Funding standoff: The White House says the nation's immigration crisis is only going to get worse unless Congress antes up. President Barack Obama wants $3.7 billion in emergency funding to deal with flood of Central American children illegally entering the United States from Mexico. Critics say the President needs to shore up the nation's borders and change policy before he'll see any money.

See you in court: Remember last week when the President said to Republicans, "So sue me," if they didn't like the way he was doing things? Well, challenge accepted. House Speaker John Boehner said the lawsuit will argue that Obama violated the Constitution by unilaterally delaying the law's requirement for businesses to provide coverage. The Republican-led House is expected to vote on a resolution authorizing legal action at the end of the month, right before lawmakers head home to campaign for midterm elections.

Under pressure: The residents of Gaza fear an Israeli ground offensive is in the offing. About 30,000 reservists have been called up by the Israelis to fortify their military forces. "We're ready to go, if we need to go," said government spokesman Mark Regev. Rockets continue to fly from Gaza, while Israel peppers the Palestinian territory with airstrikes. About 100 have died in Gaza. None in Isarel.

Terminated: Justin Ross Harris, the man charged with murder and child cruelty in the heatstroke death of his son, has been fired by his employer, Home Depot, a company representative said. He had been on unpaid leave since charges were filed last month. Harris is accused of intentionally leaving 22-month-old Cooper strapped all day into a child's seat in his SUV on a 90-degree day.

Now that's fast: In the online arms race, Bells Labs is the new top dog, setting an Internet speed record of 10 gigabits per second. For those of you keeping score, that's 1,000 times faster than traditional broadband speeds. Oh, and one more thing, it was done on copper wires not fiber-optic lines. It's not ready for prime time yet, but it is a promising development as we gobble up more and more data.

Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a couple of others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.

- Save the babies: When air raid sirens sounded outside Ramat Gan Safari Park near Tel Aviv, Israel, this week, the adult elephants appeared to rally to protect the little ones.

- Clean-shaven: Scott Cleveland keeps a promise to his grandma to get rid of his four-year-old beard for her 100th birthday. No, she never liked it.

- Playing chicken: Another day, another critter picks the World Cup winner. Will it be Germany or Argentina? You'll just have to watch.

- Everyday soccer fouls: Here's a thought. What if we (over)reacted to things in everyday life like players do on the pitch?

- TGIF: And to get your Friday off to a good start: Drive-by compliments

There you go. All you need to know to get an early start to your morning.Be sure to tune in to "New Day," from 6 to 9 a.m. ET, join us at NewDayCNN.com and go and have a GREAT NEW DAY!

soundoff(7 Responses)

5 things I need to know. OK here is my list. IRS EPA DHS What exactly do we get for the 3.7 trillion dollars budgeted for a fiscal year? and Last, could someone point out the "Skilled Worker" from all the pictures of the people invading our southern border. The pictured that are allowed, of course, for some reason we are only getting select pictures of these people. Here is a plan. Give every person that came over a thousand dollars and a plane ticket home. Then spend 3.7 Billion to SECURE the border. We are just as broke as they are but at a level of almost 18 trillion times more. We are already living on borrowed money and time. Face it, it is the truth.

The President received a boatload of money 6 years ago. Instead of spending it to strengthen our borders, he gave handouts to banks that were too big to fail, General Motors, and shovel ready construction projects. Obama should not receive another boatload of money until he secures our borders. If 50,000 children successfully penetrated our borders, terrorists face no resistance doing the same.

Happy 100th birthday to Scott Cleveland's grandmother!!!!!!!! What an awesome milestone!!!!!!!! For the love of your grandmother!!!!!!!! Way to go Scott!!!!!!!! I'm going to start my own TGIF drive-by compliments!!!!!!!! What a positive, kind and beautiful idea!!!!!!!! Have a beautiful and fabulous weekend!!!!!!!!

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